There’s nothing quite like the beaming joy
of a child. Uncomplicated, innocent, unburdened by cynicism or fear.
It’s pretty different from the “beaming”
joy of an adult. Way too often, we’re hobbled by the trappings of adulthood.
We’re bound to the process of becoming what we call “mature.” And by “mature,”
we usually just mean lowering our own expectations.2
If you really think about it, it’s
difficult to take the concept of worldly maturity entirely seriously.
There’s very little about life in the world
that we would understand as “mature.” Our world confuses pessimism for realism,
cynicism for perception and negativity for truth.12
The world of our old self doesn’t sell
itself very well as a sophisticated and seasoned environment to grow up in.
However, the worldly concept of maturity suggests that childhood should be a
state of protected grace, and that without that protection, it falls victim to
a fallen society around it. When the world itself touches on childhood–when
innocence is corrupted by experience–there is a corresponding loss of vitality
and an increase in the negativity of oppression and fear.
It’s the open hand versus the closed fist.
That, in a nutshell, is the way the world
views growing up. Maturity is something to be sought after, but it’s also
something that’s poisoned, corrupted and decaying. Childhood is precious and to
be treasured and protected, but it’s also something to be escaped as soon as
possible.
We’re convinced that we shouldn’t encourage
children to mature beyond their years, but rather urge them to appreciate their
youth while they can. And yet, we constantly belittle them, condescend to them
and patronize them.
But here’s the rub: We’re all children in
the Kingdom.
We’re all newborn and learning. We never
stop growing in the Spirit, because everything that the Spirit is working
towards in us boils down to one simple objective: to make us more like Jesus.
And one of the fundamental aspects to our experience with Him has to be a childlike
view of exactly where we are in Him.
We’re invited to cultivate a feeling of
blank, delirious astonishment at the fullness of Christ in us! We need the wow
factor that only a child can properly express—that gleeful rejoicing in
something so unspeakably cool that it makes us want to bounce up and down with
excitement.8
The world loves to place ideas and people
in neat, nicely manageable boxes. That’s why we get terms like youth and
maturity, child and adult, innocence and experience. In the Kingdom, we’re not
nearly so insecure that we feel the need to compartmentalize and rationalize
life into convenient, bite-size chunks.
It’s perfectly possible to be a grown-up,
with responsibilities and dependents, and still retain a childlike sensibility.
The Holy Spirit knows the difference
between “childlike” and “childish.”
Given that attitude, it’s not surprising
that we’re the best advertisements for the Good News. How can we not be, when
the rhythm of our lives is captivated by Jesus? In Him, we’ve reclaimed
childhood for adults and rehabilitated maturity for the child in all of us.
We’re walking commercials for the capacity of Christ to renew and restore the
world.2
God allows and even engineers situations
designed to establish further astonishment in our lives, to restore the
childlike simplicity we need to move in His Kingdom.
There’s no fear in us, no insecurity. We’re
given more love than we could ever need, and there’s more still to come as our
capacity to feel and express love grows.
Smile along with us. It’s all going to end
in laughter: the delighted chuckle of a child, amazed at how wonderful life can
be.
- Graham Cooke
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